This invention relates generally to buggy shaves for single passenger four wheel show buggies.
The showing of horses under harness in fancy buggy competition has grown in popularity in recent years. The horses used in this competition are often carefully bred, expensive stock and the buggies rival each other in fancy appearance and are expensive to build. The shaves which attach the buggy to the horse have been made of laminated hickory wood and are attached to the front axle of the buggy in a manner which permits the shaves to pivot vertically with respect to the buggy axle but not horizontally.
In training horses to the harness for fancy buggies and in the shows themselves, it is not unusual for a horse to lose its footing under harness. On occasion this has resulted in the shaves breaking or the buggy being turned over. When shaves of laminated hickory break they leave very jagged edges which can badly wound a horse. If the buggy turns over its destruction or virtual destruction usually results.
Metal shaves can be made stronger than those of laminated hickory, but this does not resolve the problem of the buggy being turned over with possible destruction and injury to the horse. Also, metal shaves previously used have been found to generate and transmit noise which irritates the horse and takes away from the show effect. A need, therefore, exists for metal buggy shaves which will not break nor cause the buggy to turn over, and yet will avoid noise generation and transmission.